New York (CNNMoney) - The class of 2013 will face an "extremely difficult" job market when college students graduate in the months ahead, according to a new research report.

Unemployment remains high for young college grads. For those who will find jobs, many will probably have to settle for low-level positions, the Economic Policy Institute said Wednesday.

The unemployment rate for recent college grads between the ages of 21 to 24 has averaged 8.8% over the last year, according to Labor Department data.

Once you also include young grads who are working part-time for economic reasons, and those who have stopped looking for a job in the last year, the so-called "underemployment rate" is a whopping 18.3%.

Sure, the job market has improved during the past few years. But both these rates remain higher than pre-recession levels.

New York (CNNMoney) - Workers across America are experiencing completely different versions of the jobs recovery, depending on their education level.

The recovery is favoring the college educated, but leaving behind those with a high school diploma or less."In the recession and recovery, those with the most education are hurt the least and recover the fastest," said Anthony Carnavale, director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.

Workers with the highest level of education - including master's, doctorates and professional degrees - are a relatively small part of the population, yet they're experiencing the fastest employment gains.

About 1.1 million more of them say they had jobs in 2012, compared to the bottom of the job market in 2010 - a 6.7% gain - according to Labor Department data.

Meanwhile, workers with bachelor's degrees - a much larger group - have reported 5% employment gains.

That contrasts starkly with workers at the opposite end of the education spectrum, who are not only reporting they have fewer jobs, but are also leaving the workforce in droves.

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